It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

Will Maryland Join 11 Other States Building DNA Database of Innocent Citizens?

Maryland GovernorMartin O’Malley is asking the Maryland state legislature to pass a law that takes DNA samples from those arrested for — but not necessarily charged with or convicted of — crimes in the state. Those DNA samples would then be kept in a centralized database for government use.

I find this proposal odious because it violates the letter and the spirit of the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It seizes the most personal information about an individual for permanent use by the government as evidence in any crime committed in a state, and it doesn’t even require that a person has violated the law for the DNA sampling to occur. No warrants are issued for the further use of DNA matching by the government in perpituity. And all that has to happen for this process to be initiated is that a person is arrested. Not indicted. Not convicted. People who are innocent of any crime are going to have their DNA databased by the government. Why? Because it’s useful to the government.

A quick note: the big-government-prerogative, anti-liberty, anti-constitution governor in this instance, Martin O’Malley, is a Democrat. Just voting for the Democrat on the ballot is not enough to preserve your liberty.

Liberal Buttons, Political Bumper Stickers and Sweat-Free Shirts

To keep our voices independent of moneyed interests, the writers of Irregular Times have never accepted money for advertising on this website. But we still have to pay the bills! To help cover our expenses, we sell our own designs of liberal activist bumper stickers, buttons and sweatshop-free shirts.